Shop Talk
Retailers, consumers and prices
Check Out Line: Showdown at the Barnes & Noble corral
Check out Barnes & Noble’s victory at its annual meeting.
Shareholders of the U.S. bookseller had to choose between dissident investor Ron Burkle and Chairman Len Riggio as a bitter proxy battle between the chain’s top two stakeholders came to a head.
And the winner of the “gunfight” was Barnes & Noble, whose slate of directors won election.
Burkle, whose Yucaipa Cos owns 18.8 percent of Barnes & Noble shares, had been on a slate of three nominees seeking seats on the board, including the one held by Riggio, the man who built the chain into the largest U.S. specialty bookseller and the company’s largest shareholder with a 28.2 percent stake. Three of the nine board seats were up for a vote.
Burkle also asked shareholders to modify an anti-takeover “poison pill” that Barnes & Noble put into place last year after Burkle doubled his stake. Burkle had accused Riggio of running the company for his personal benefit and leaving it saddled with debt and ill-prepared for the shift to electronic books.
Check Out Line: Power plays in the air
Check out the power plays going on in the consumer world.
Walgreen said it will buy Duane Reed for $618 million in cash, catapulting the largest U.S. drugstore operator into the top spot in the New York City area. The deal price also includes the assumption of $457 million in debt.
Duane Reed is owned by private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners and operates 257 drugstores in the New York metropolitan area. Duane Reade will continue to operate under its brand name, and Walgreen expects to retain the employees at its stores, pharmacies and distribution centers.
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